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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 9612656" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/94kYbyN.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="width: 433px" /><a href="https://www.dmsguild.com/product/388912/People-of-Zakhara-Ogres-AlQadim-and-Forgotten-Realms-Character-Expansion" target="_blank">DM's Guild Store Page.</a>Back in 2021, a group of gamers got together under the moniker of Giant Space Hamster Press to write an in-depth 5th Edition update to the Al-Qadim setting. As it was technically set within the Forgotten Realms, the product was permissible under WotC's fan content policy for publishing on the Dungeon Master's Guild. But beyond just a straightforward conversion, this new guide also sought to avoid the more insensitive trappings of its AD&D predecessor, and as part of that process hired Arab cultural consultants to help write and proofread the book.But this would not be Giant Space Hamster's only foray into Zakhara. They would go on to release smaller supplements for the setting, such as a mini-supplement focused on seafaring adventures. People of Zakhara: Ogres, is one such supplement we'll be focusing on in this post.One of Al-Qadim's more innovative features for its time was the partial decoupling of many monsters from their roles as traditional antagonists. The Lands of Fate are home to a religion known as the Law of the Loregiver, serving as a common unifying cultural element that unites people of many lands and species. Those who accepted the Law are known as Enlightened, and include many monstrous people as adherents. Ogres are one of the more well-known monstrous races in Zakhara, and thus a major factor for making them a playable species.Part One of this book focuses on rules for ogre and half-ogre PCs, along with common cultural details. Generally speaking, their natural size and strength makes them ideal for trades where this is an advantage, but Al-Hadhar (city-dwelling) ogres often find wider opportunities in other occupations such as merchants, performers, and scholars. Ogres bear a fascination for intricate patterns and shapes, which draw them to gems and works of art. This leads to a stereotype of them being gluttonous…but wouldn't greedy be a better stereotype?Half-ogres occur not just from human-ogre pairings, but with other humanoids as well. The terms "ogrillon" and "orog" denote one whose ogre parent was either the father or mother respectively, although such terms are regarded as demeaning in modern times and are only used among a minority of half-ogres.In terms of game stats, ogres are optimized for strong martial builds, gaining +2 Strength, +1 Constitution, a size of Large, and the Giant instead of Humanoid type. They also have 60 feet darkvision, a base walking speed of 40 feet, and gain 1 extra hit point every level. Half-ogres have +1 Strength and Constitution, a +1 to any ability score of their choice, are Humanoid and Medium size, and have the +1 extra hit point of their ogre parent. But reflecting their Versatile Ancestry, they gain one trait of their choice from their non-ogre parent.Thoughts: Ogres are on the higher end of the power scale for playable races. A non-humanoid type renders immune to a variety of spells and effects, Large size lets them be in contact with more squares for melee attacks and let them emanate larger personal AoEs like a paladin's aura, and their walking speed ranks among the fastest ancestry in being on par with the centaur. However, the other classic "martial" species still have some advantages over them: for instance, goliaths, half-orcs, and orcs have good defensive traits such as Stone's Endurance and Relentless Endurance, as well as a bonus skill proficiency. Goliaths are still Medium, but get the positive traits of Large size in regards to carrying capacity.As for half-ogres, their playable option varies widely depending on what trait is picked from their non-ogre parent. In games with Variant humans they can end up overpowered if a player chooses the bonus feat option, while something like a Tiefling Bloodline can be several features in one via the granting of bonus spells. To say nothing of ancestries with wings granting a fly speed! Thus, a DM should take care that the ancestral trait is one that won't be too unbalanced to take with the base half-ogre lineage.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/VP2w3QI.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="width: 265px" />Part Two provides us with five NPCs to populate one's campaign with ogres and half-ogres. The entries come with general descriptions, suggested uses in a campaign, and a stat block, and all divert from the "big dumb brute" stereotype. They include Ahmed al-Ghwl, an optimistic proselytizer of the Temple of Ten Thousand Gods who preaches a doctrine of universal equality, and whose adventure hook involves him wishing to prevent an assassination attempt on an efreeti noble in the City of Brass; Bezoar R'maga, a traveling porter with six siblings who is searching for her missing brother, and has befriended a gen (elemental familiar) by the name of Shaeila; Dodi al-Nekkach, a weaponsmith who became famous for the quality of his work, specializing in customers larger than human size, and is assisted by a sprite friend named Latif al-Jazil; Hakim Sayad, a tailor who has a wide network of connections among various social classes; and Zainab al-Dīn, a builder of clockwork constructs who conducted research expeditions into the Ruined Kingdoms and thus can be a useful resource for PCs seeking to visit that region.Thoughts: I don't have any strong feelings on the sample NPCs. The entries are individually too brief to provide much in the way of encounters or adventures, being more akin to a springboard for the DM to build off of or recurring NPCs for PCs looking to buy and sell goods and services. None of the NPCs are part of villainous organizations or up to anything shady, so it's unlikely that PCs will fight them in combat in most campaigns. Their primary use will most likely be as allies.All of the NPCs are low-Tier, with Challenge Ratings being 2 on average. Bezoar is the exception at 4, and has some Battlemaster-esque fighting abilities along with a wide array of spells. Quite a few of these spells are pretty high-level, too, such as Feeblemind, Contact Other Plane, and Scrying. Due to this, her CR feels a bit low to me given her capabilities and 120 hit points.Overall Thoughts: People of Zakhara: Ogres is a fine sourcebook for 5e groups seeking a playable ogre ancestry that is mechanically distinct and not a reflavored version of an existing lineage. I'd allow both the ogre and half-ogre as playable options, but with the aforementioned discretion in regards to the latter's Versatile Ancestry.</blockquote>

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